USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Columbus, Ohio: its history, resources, and progress : with numerous illustrations > Part 30
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The first successful effort to establish an institution in Ohio for the education of the deaf and dumb was made at the legisla- tive season of 1826-27. Through the influence of the Rev. Dr. Hoge of this city, Governor Morrow, in his annual message, recommended the establishment of such an institution. In the House of Representatives, the subject was referred to a select committee, to whom an elaborate memorial, prepared by Dr. Hoge and signed by a large number of prominent citizens, was
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presented. The result was the passage of an act incorporating the institution.
The first board of trustees under this act consisted of Rev. James Hoge and Judge Gustavus Swan, of Franklin county ; Thomas Ewing, of Fairfield; Rev. William Graham, of Ross ; John H. James, of Champaign; Rev. William Barton, of Picka- way; Thomas D. Webb, of Trumbull, and Samuel Clark, of Clark county. The governor was ex-officio president of the board. Dr. Hoge was chosen secretary, and filled the office till April, 1848, when he resigned, and was succeeded by the Rev. Henry L. Hitchcock. Horatio N. Hubbell was selected for prin- cipal of the institution, who went to Hartford Asylum, in March, 1828, to become qualified for his new duties.
The school was opened October 16, 1829, in a small building, rented for the purpose, standing on the corner of High and Broad streets. Only three pupils were present, and these from the immediate vicinity. One of the three proved to be idiotic ; another was a boy of weak intellect, and not long afterward be- came hopelessly insane. Before the close of the term, the num- ber of the pupils increased to ten, and during the year to twenty- two. The number continued to steadily increase, until there were as many applicants as could be accommodated.
In February, 1829, a tract of land, consisting of three out- lots, containing each three acres and one-third of an acre, mak- ing a site of ten acres, and lying about half a mile east of the State-house, was purchased for three hundred dollars. On this site the first building for the use of the school was commenced in 1832, and was occupied at the opening of the fall term in 1834. It was fifty by eighty feet, and three stories high. It was designed to provide school, lodging, dining, and sitting- rooms, for sixty or eighty pupils. A wing was added in 1845-46 to the south end of the original building.
Such was the increase of applicants that this provision be- came entirely inadequate, and in March, 1864, an act was passed for the erection of a new building, " to be of plain and substan- tial construction, having special reference to adaptation and proper economy for the convenient and suitable accommodation of three hundred and fifty pupils and necessary officers and
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servants." The governor was empowered to carry out the pro- visions of the act. With the advice of the committee of the legislature on benevolent institutions, the governor adopted a ground plan by J. M. Blackburn, who was appointed to exe- cute it.
DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM.
The corner-stone of the present asylum for the deaf and dumb building was laid on Monday afternoon, October 31, 1864. Among the numerous articles deposited in it were por- traits of President and Mrs. Lincoln, of Governor Brough, and of many of our prominent generals, specimens of the currency of the United States, State documents, the emancipation proclamation, periodicals and papers of the day, a list of the officers, teachers, and pupils of the asylum, etc. The stone was placed in its proper position by the architect of the building, J. M. Blackburn. Ad- dresses were delivered by Governor Anderson and Mr. Weed, the superintendent of the asylum, and a prayer was offered by Mr. Buffington, a deaf mute, in the sign language. Rev. E. D. Morris closed the afternoon exercises by a benediction.
In the evening the exercises were resumed at the Second Presbyterian Church, where addresses were made by Governor Anderson and C. N. Olds. Pupils from the institution for the blind sung several hymns during the evening.
PUBLIC OPENING .- The new building was occupied by the school September, 1868. The formal opening of the new insti- tution did not, however, take place till the evening of Febru- ary 11, 1869. At an early hour, the chapel, where the addresses were to be delivered, was densely crowded with guests. The pupils occupied the corridors adjacent. The various exercises were interpreted to them by instructors conveniently stationed. Governor Hayes presided. The opening prayer was made by Rev. F. Merrick. Rev. Collins Stone, the superintendent of the institution, then delivered an elaborate address upon the " History and Methods of Mute Instruction." A brief address on behalf of the board of trustees was made by Samuel Galloway. An exhibition in pantomime was given, concluding with the Lord's Prayer. After the benediction by Rev. W. R. Marshall, re-
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freshments were served in the dining-room below. The house was open and lighted throughout, and was inspected generally by the guests.
SUPERINTENDENTS .- The superintendents of the institution, from its orgin to the present time, have been :
Horatio N. Hubbell, from 1827 to 1851; J. Addison, from 1851 till his death, August 7, 1852 ; Collins Stone, from October, 1852, to 1863; George L. Wood, Jr., from 1863 to 1866. The present superintendent, Gilbert O. Fay, was appointed in 1866.
DEPARTMENT OF TRADES .- This department is presided over by the following persons : Parley B. Pratt, master of the shoe shop ; Lewis L. Rice, supervisor of public printing; Mitchell C. Lilley, master of book bindery, and Robert E. Stewart, master of the printing-office.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR 1872 .- The trustees of the in- stitution-Kent Jarvis, of Stark county, and James S. Abbott and Henry F. Booth, of Franklin county-in their forty-sixth annual report to the governor, express the opinion that a more liberal compensation should be allowed the officers of the insti- tution. The trustees' report is brief, and closes with a reference to the loss of the board in the death of Samuel Galloway.
The superintendent, Gilbert O. Fay, says, in his last report to the trustees, under the head of attendance, that one year ago there were present three hundred and thirty-eight pupils-two hundred males and one hundred and thirty-eight females. There have since been received fifty-nine pupils-thirty-one males and twenty-eight females-forty-nine of whom are new pupils, mak- ing the whole number for the year three hundred and ninety- seven-two hundred and thirty-one males and one hundred and sixty-six females. Graduation, removal, death, and other causes have diminished this number fifty-nine, leaving now present three hundred and thirty-eight pupils-one hundred and ninety- seven males and one hundred and forty-one females. They are classified as follows : Scientific, twenty-nine ; grammar, eighty- four; primary, two hundred and twenty-five.
Hamilton county sends forty, Franklin sends fifteen, Cuyahoga sends fourteen, and Montgomery sends eleven. No other county sends a greater number than nine.
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The whole number of pupils from the first has now reached one thousand three hundred and two. Of these four hundred and thirty-seven cases were congenital, and forty-three different causes are assigned for the other cases, besides forty under the head of " not reported," and ninety-six under the head of "re- ported unknown." One hundred and thirty-three cases were produced by scarlet fever.
A large majority of the cases that have been in the institution occurred before the afflicted persons reached the age of ten years.
Pupils of the scientific department average about six years ; in the grammar, about five years, and in the primary, about three years. The whole course of study is intended to occupy about ten years' time with mutes of ordinary capacity and ap- plication.
Under the head of admission, the superintendent says : "I have no doubt but that, on the whole, the welfare of the mutes of the State would be promoted by removing all limits of age, and allowing them to enter the institution as early as children are legally admissible to the public schools, and also to remain as long as their progress and conduct shall warrant. Practically, the permission to remain would make little or no difference, as mutes rarely care to remain for the time already allowed by law. The removal of the limit could do no harm."
The cost of the institution to the State for the year has been : For current expenses, including repairs $56,216 49
For salaries
16,825 00
Total $73,041 49
The actual cost per pupil was $216.09. This is $5.26 less per pupil than in the previous year. It should also be considered, says the superintendent, that we have no garden or farm fur- nishing a constant supply of produce.
Anticipating the same number of pupils the forthcoming year, the superintendent says the amounts needed for the support of the institution will be :
For current expenses.
$56,000
For salaries. 17,600
Total
$73,600
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The present physician attending the institution is Dr. Samuel M. Smith ; the steward, George W. Wakefield.
ASYLUM FOR IDIOTIC AND IMBECILE YOUTH.
The legislature, April 17, 1857, passed an act to establish an asylum for the education of idiotic and imbecile youth, and ap- pointed Wm. Dennison, Jr., of Columbus ; Asher Cook, of Per- rysburg, and N. S. Townshend, of Avon, the first board of trustees. The trustees appointed Dr. R. J. Patterson, superin- tendent of the institution, and leased a large house belonging to Mrs. Neville, on Friend street, opposite the Blind Asylum, for five years. Sixteen pupils were received prior to November 1, 1837, and applications made for more than could be accommo- dated.
Dr. Patterson resigned, as superintendent, November 1, 1860. At that date, he reported that the building was crowded with inmates, thirty-five in number, and that during the year many applicants had been excluded for want of room. The trustees, in February, 1860, appointed Dr. G. A. Doren, superintendent, who has been continued in the office until the present time. In 1860, the building was enlarged, and the number of pupils rose to fifty-four.
PURCHASE OF A SITE .- By the act of March 28, 1864, twenty- five thousand dollarswere appropriated for the purchase of a site for the permanent location, and the erection of buildings thereon. Under this act, the trustees purchased of the Franklin Bank of Columbus one hundred acres of land at thirty-five dollars per acre. No other within reach of the city, adapted to the pur- pose, was offered at less than five hundred dollars per acre. The trustees, in their report for 1864, thus describe the tract pur- chased :
" It is situated on the National Road, two miles west of Colum- bus. The site selected for the building is near the brink of the elevated plain, on the west side of the Scioto valley. The situation is a beautiful one, overlooking and presenting a fine view of the city, while it is in plain sight of the Capitol. A very fine maple grove runs around the entire front of the high ground, and at the same time the principal part of the land is in the
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Scioto valley, and is easily susceptible of the highest state of cultivation. The site for building, being upon high ground, is easily drained."
THE BUILDING .- The trustees, in 1864, adopted a plan for a building, which, as a whole, was intended to accommodate two hundred and fifty pupils, and, used to its utmost capacity, three hundred. The work on the building was commenced the next year. Under successive appropriations by the legislature, the work progressed, and in July, 1868, it was so far advanced that it was occupied as an asylum. In November, the number of pupils was one hundred and five.
BEQUEST .- The trustees, in their report for 1869, state that by the will of Charles Chapman, of Avon, Lorain county, who made the State his residuary legatee, the institution had received the sum of four thousand dollars, which would ultimately be in- creased to five thousand.
THE PUPILS .- On the 15th of November, 1872, there were in the institution 288 pupils. During the year then closed, 81 had been admitted; 6 had died, and 18 had been discharged. Of these, 12 were discharged improved, and 6 were discharged on account of chronic disease. A number of the pupils having no homes to go to, were retained at the institution, taking the place of paid labor.
The trustees of the institution are Dr. N. S. Townshend, J. A. Lutz, and Peter Hitchcock.
Matron-Harriet F. Purple.
THE STATE ARSENAL .- Previous to the erection of the present arsenal building, the State rented rooms for the deposit of the public arms. Acts looking to the establishment of a state arsenal were passed by the legislature, April 18, 1857, and March 24, 1859. By the act of March 17, 1860, the governor was authorized to sell the lots on the old penitentiary grounds, remaining unsold, reserving three contiguous lots for a site for the state arsenal, and apply six thousand dollars of the proceeds additional to the proceeds of previous sales of lots and of the sales of old arms, to the "prosecution of the state arsenal"-the building not to cost over fourteen thousand dollars. The build- ing was erected in 1860, and an appropriation of $2,500 was
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STATE BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.
made in 1863, for grading, fencing, and improving the arsenal and lot.
The arsenal is built of brick and stands on Friend street, near the canal. With its towers and turrets, it wears the look of a castle of the olden time. It is one hundred feet in length by sixty in width, with a lofty octagonal tower at each corner. It has a basement of eighty by sixty feet, and eight feet high ; also, a gun-room sixty feet square on the main floor, with the armorer's room and office, each twenty feet square. These rooms are sixteen feet high. The second story is one hundred by sixty feet, and twenty feet high without a column, and is appropri- ated to the arrangement of small arms. The third or attic story is also spacious. There are winding stairs in the towers, giving access to each floor. These towers are supplied with numerous windows and loop-holes, commanding all approaches to the building.
UNITED STATES ARSENAL.
On the 27th of April, 1862, a joint resolution was adopted by the Ohio legislature, instructing our senators and requesting our representatives in Congress to use all honorable efforts to procure the location of the contemplated national armory at some suitable place in the State of Ohio.
A memorial, signed by W. B. Hubbard, Samuel Galloway, John S. Hall, Wm. G. Deshler, Walstein Failing, and Peter Ambos, a committee on behalf of the citizens, and by A. B. Buttles, Horace Wilson, and Luther Donaldson, a committee on behalf of the city council, was sent to Congress in 1862, setting forth the advantages of Columbus as a place for the establish- ment and construction of a national armory and arsenal.
The legislature, March 21, 1863, passed an act ceding to the United States jurisdiction of the lands that had been, or might be, purchased in the county of Franklin for a national arsenal. The preamble to this act recited that the United States had ap- propriated money for the establishment of a national arsenal at Columbus for the deposit and repair of arms and other muni- tions of war.
Previous to the passage of the act of cession, the site for the
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made in 1863, for grading, fencing, and improving the arsenal and lot.
The arsenal is built of brick and stands on Friend street, near the canal. With its towers and turrets, it wears the look of a castle of the olden time. It is one hundred feet in length by sixty in width, with a lofty octagonal tower at each corner. It has a basement of eighty by sixty fect, and eight feet high ; also, a gun-room sixty feet square on the main floor, with the armorer's room and office, each twenty feet square. These rooms are sixteen feet high. The second story is one hundred by sixty fect, and twenty feet high without a column, and is appropri- ated to the arrangement of small arms. The third or attic story is also spacious. There are winding stairs in the towers, giving access to each floor. These towers are supplied with numerous windows and loop-holes, commanding all approaches to the building.
UNITED STATES ARSENAL.
On the 27th of April, 1862, a joint resolution was adopted by the Ohio legislature, instructing our senators and requesting our representatives in Congress to use all honorable efforts to procure the location of the contemplated national armory at some suitable place in the State of Ohio.
A memorial, signed by W. B. Hubbard, Samuel Galloway, John S. Hall, Wm. G. Deshler, Walstein Failing, and Peter Ambos, a committee on behalf of the citizens, and by A. B. Buttles, Horace Wilson, and Luther Donaldson, a committee on behalf of the city council, was sent to Congress in 1862, setting forth the advantages of Columbus as a place for the establish- ment and construction of a national armory and arsenal.
The legislature, March 21, 1863, passed an act ceding to the United States jurisdiction of the lands that had been, or might be, purchased in the county of Franklin for a national arsenal. The preamble to this act recited that the United States had ap- propriated money for the establishment of a national arsenal at Columbus for the deposit and repair of arms and other muni- tions of war.
Previous to the passage of the act of cession, the site for the
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proposed arsenal had been selected by General Buckingham in the northeast part of the city as now extended, on the tract then known in common parlance as "Neil's Woods." On the 17th of February, 1863, General Buckingham bought from Robert E. Neil seventy-seven acres and three-fourths of an acre of this tract, lying in nearly a square form, for the sum of $112,377. . The buildings were located September 3, 1863, and their con- struction commenced in October following, under the superin- tendency of Captain T. C. Bradford. J. O. Sawyer, the first architect, was succeeded by N. B. Kelley. The main building and the magazine being completed in August, 1865, the recep- tion of military stores from eastern arsenals was commenced. The other buildings were finished soon afterward. All the buildings are of brick, and are grouped in the form of a square, with the office in the center, and the main building on the south and in front of it. The following is a brief description of these buildings :
Main building : Three stories high, 180 by 60 feet, with a tower, 34 feet square, five stories high. This building is used for the storage of arms and accoutrements, the tower containing the stairway and the hoisting apparatus.
Artillery store-house : Two stories high, 201 by 51 feet ; used for storing artillery carriages and harness.
Central office : One story high, 462 by 22 feet.
Barracks : Two stories high, 732 by 32 feet.
Guard-house : One story high, 25} by 22} feet.
Magazine: One story high, 502 by 332 feet.
Officers' quarters No. 1: Two stories high, 73} by 40 feet ; used for the residence of the commanding officer.
Officers' quarters No. 2: Two stories high, 65₺ by 48} feet.
Stable : Two stories high, 63 by 46} feet. To this building is attached a wagon-shed, 65 by 30 feet.
Workshop: Two stories high, 82 by 303 feet, used for re- pairing and cleaning arms, and also for the storage of the fire- engine.
The foundations and the superstructures of all these buildings are substantial, and the more important of them present an im-
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posing appearance. They are situated on elevated ground, and have a commanding view of the city and surrounding country. The grounds are handsomely laid out in walks and drives, and are interspersed with forest trees and shrubbery. Several acres are allotted to pasturage and gardening. The arsenal and its surroundings form one of the many attractions of the capital city of Ohio.
The value of the arsenal grounds and buildings, on the 30th of June, 1872, was estimated at $442,422.
The several commandants at the arsenal since its commence- ment have been :
J. W. Todd, captain of ordnance, who took command Septem- ber 3, 1863, and was relieved on the 3d of December ensuing by George B. Wright, colonel and military store-keeper, who re- signed February 10, 1864, and was succeeded by T. C. Bradford, captain of ordnance; relieved July 13, 1869, by Theodore Edson, major of ordnance; relieved July 30, 1869, by E. Penrose Jones, captain and ordnance store-keeper. The present commandant, John McNutt, major of ordnance, relieved Captain Jones, November 19, 1869, the latter being continued as ordnance store keeper.
The chief clerk at the arsenal is Elliott Jones ; the assistant clerk, William Allen; the foreman, Jolin H. Wilson, and the sergeant is James McGrath.
UNITED STATES POST-OFFICE.
The Columbus post-office was established in 1813, the next year after the town was first laid off. It was made a distrib- uting office in 1838. The following is a list of the successive postmasters :
Matthew Matthews, from 1813-14; Joel Buttles, 1814-29; Bela Latham,"1829-41; John G. Miller, 1841-45; Jacob Medary, 1845-47 ; Samuel Medary, 1847-49; Aaron F. Perry, 1849-53; Thomas Sparrow, 1853-57; Thomas Miller, 1857-58; Samuel Medary, 1858, nine months; Thomas Miller, 1858-60; John Dawson, 1860, one month ; Joseph Dowdall, 1860, eight months ; John Graham, 1861-65; Julius J. Wood, 1865-70; James M. Comly, 1870.
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THE FIRST PENITENTIARY.
The penitentiary system was introduced into Ohio in 1815. Before that time, certain crimes afterward punished by impris- onment in the penitentiary, were punished by whipping. For instance, an act for the punishment of larceny, provided that the offender upon conviction should be whipped not exceeding thirty-nine stripes on the naked back, and that on a second con- viction for the like offense, he should be whipped not exceeding fifty stripes at the discretion of the court.
The first Ohio statute for the punishment of larceny by im- prisonment in the penitentiary was passed January 27, 1815, and took effect on the first day of the following August. It provided that the offender, upon a conviction of the larceny of the value of ten dollars and upward, should be imprisoned in the penitentiary at hard labor not more than seven years nor less than one year. In 1821, the law was so modified as to re- quire a larceny of fifty dollars in value to·constitute a peniten- tiary offense. In 1835, the amount of the larceny was reduced to thirty-five dollars, at which figure it has since remained.
The first penitentiary in Ohio was built in 1813, in the south- west corner of the town of Columbus, on the ten-acre lot selected for the purpose, and conveyed to the State by the original pro- prietors of the town for the erection of a penitentiary and its dependencies. The building was erected under the superin- tendence of William Ludlow, the state director of public build- ings. It was built of brick and fronted on Scioto street. It was sixty feet in length by thirty in width, and three stories high, including the basement, half of which was below the surface of the ground. The basement was divided into a cellar, kitchen, and dining-room for the prisoners. It could be entered only from the interior of the yard. The second, or next story above the basement, was the keeper's residence, and was entered by high steps from the street. The third or upper story was divided into thirteen cells-four dark and nine light ones-for prisoners. The sole entrance to this upper story was also from the interior of the yard.
The prison-yard was about one hundred feet square, including
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the site of the building. It was inclosed by a stone wall from fifteen to-eighteen feet high.
Such was the Ohio penitentiary, as it existed from 1815 to 1818. At the latter date, a new penitentiary, as it was then called, was erected, and the yard enlarged to about four hundred feet east and west, and about one hundred and sixty fect north and south, including the space covered by the buildings. The yard was extended to the foot of the hill near the canal. It was graded so as to make three levels or terraces, cach gradually descending to the west. Two perpendicular stone walls were built across the yard to the height of the level or terrace above. These cross walls were about twelve feet high, and had large steps for ascent and descent. The outer walls, inclosing the yard, were twenty feet high and three feet thick, with a heavy plank-floor on the top and a hand-railing on the inner edge. On the top of the wall there were steps or stairs leading from the first or upper level to the second and third. The upper level or terrace was about equal in size to the other two, ex- tending about two hundred feet east and west; the middle one, eighty feet, and the third, one hundred and twenty. The work- shops were generally arranged along the south side of the upper yard. The cooper and blacksmith shops were in the middle yard. There were no shops in the lowest terrace.
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